Top 10 Tennis Controversies of The Decade

There have been so many tennis controversies in the history of the sport. Many people, especially the older generation remember John McEnroe who started so many controversies in his time. Here we list the tennis controversies that happened in the last 10 years –

1. Serena Williams’ rant at US Open 2018:

The final of the US Open in 2018 was a tennis controversy that everybody remembers as Serena Williams lashed out at Carlos Ramos who was the umpire for that match. This was because she received a triple-code violation – one for coaching, one for racquet abuse and one for verbal abuse.

This resulted in a point penalty and a game penalty. Serena called Carlos Ramos a ‘thief’ and ‘liar’. The entire stadium booed Carlos Ramos. In the end, her opponent Naomi Osaka was left in tears. Many journalists were in support of Serena Williams saying that if it were a man in her place this wouldn’t have happened.

2. Nick Kyrgios lashes out at Umpire in Cincinnati:

Headlining 2019’s tennis controversies is this incident that took place at the Cincinnati Masters where during his match against Karen Khachanov, Nick Kyrgios broke 2 rackets and verbally abused the umpire.

Everything was fine until the second set where Nick Kyrgios lost his cool when he was not allowed to take a bathroom break. He appeared to call the umpire a ‘f***ing tool’.He was fined a $113,000 which was one of the largest fines in the history of the sport and was given a 16-week ban after an investigation by the ATP.

3. Novak Djokovic at Shanghai Masters:

At the Shanghai Masters, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga was able to secure a crucial break as the call made by line judge was late and the point was awarded to Tsonga. This triggered an immediate rant by Novak Djokovic who was furious because he lost his serve.

This type of decision by the umpire did not happen once but twice which caused Djokovic to scream at the umpire during the change of ends. Despite this, he went on to win the match 6-2 7-6.

4. Maria Sharapova doping scandal:

In March 2016 it was revealed that Maria Sharapova tested positive for meldonium, a substance that had been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. This was one of the top tennis controversies at the time. She was suspended from playing tennis for 2 years by the ITF.

On October 24, the suspension was reduced to 15 months when the Court of Arbitration for Sports found that she only consumed it based on her doctor’s recommendation. She resumed playing at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on April 26, 2017. There was a lot of controversies even when she returned with players like Eugenie Bouchard saying that she is a cheater and should not be allowed to play

5. Dominic Thiem accuses Serena Williams of Showing “Bad Personality”:

 At the 2019 French Open, Serena Williams wanted to finish her press conference after her surprising third-round loss. Dominic Thiem was told to end his conference to make way for her which caused him to lash out. “Every player has to wait. It shows a bad personality, in my opinion,” said Thiem.

Many players came out in support of Dominic Thiem including 20-time Grand Slam Champion Roger Federer who said that players who win their match should be given priority in press conferences and that he understood Thiem’s frustration.

6. Rafael Nadal Demands that Carlos Bernardes never officiate his matches:

At the Rio Open in 2015, Carlos Bernardes made Rafael Nadal change his shorts in front of 7000 people in order to save time. Rafa asked Carlos if he could go inside to change his shorts.

Carlos denied him permission saying that if he went he would receive a time violation and forced hime to change his shorts right there. This stirred up a huge controversy with Nadal demanding that Carlos Bernardes never officiate his Matches.

7. Nick Kyrgios at Shanghai 2017:

During Nick Kyrgios’ match against Steve Johnson he smashed two balls angrily for which hew was given a warning. He was then given a point penalty for an audible obscenity when he said that he would retire from the match if he lost the tiebreaker.

He lost the set and retired. He later said that he retired because of a stomach bug but did not receive medical attention before retiring. He was stripped of his match fee and fined $10000 for unsportsmanlike conduct. This was one of 2017’s top tennis controversies.

8. Nick Kyrgios throws a chair at the Italian Open:

Nick Kyrgios makes his way into this list of top tennis controversies for the third time. This time for chair-throwing. Nick Kyrgios at the 2019 Italian Open was frustrated at losing a point on his serve and he subsequently got a warning for ball abuse.

He then was given a game penalty when he shouted at the member of the crowd. This game penalty led him to smash his racket, boot a water bottle and throw a wooden chair across the court. He then stormed off the court with his opponent Casper Ruud leading 6-3 6-7 2-1.

9. Daniil Medvedev questions the impartiality of umpire:

 Back in 2016 when Daniil Medvedev was ranked 260 he was playing Donald Young at the Savannah Challenger.

Medvedev was down 3-1 when the umpire called his friend. In his anger, he told the umpire and his opponent were ‘friends’ implying they were from the same race. This led to him being disqualified from the tournament.

10. Nick Kyrgios Sledged Stan Wawrinka at Rogers Cup 2016:

During the second round tie in Canada, Kyrgios addressed Wawrinka, “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that mate.” The words were picked up on the on-court microphone. At that time, Wawrinka was dating the tennis player, Donna Vekic. Later, he apologized for the remarks on social media and he slapped with a fine of $10,000 for the same.